


The Swan's Mage

by yuuago



Category: A Redtail's Dream (Webcomic), Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Afterlife, Crossover, Drabble Sequence, Flash Fic, Gen, Ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 20:42:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4934584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuago/pseuds/yuuago
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Onni thought the shadows that slipped through his dreams belonged to hostile spirits. He was wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Swan's Mage

Two shadows stepped past the edge of his sight, and Onni tried to follow them. 

They were quick, they evaded, they left no trails, and no footprints, airy and silent as ghosts as they travelled through his dream's hidden paths.

It wasn't the first time he had seen them.

He hadn't let them in.

Gritting his teeth, he put up wards, set snares in his mind to trap them, called on every skill he had. The channels outside his dreams were wild and twisted and dangerous, but his own haven, his mind's island, would stay safe. 

He'd see to it.

* * *

One day, they came again, as he expected. They stepped into his dream and the ground lifted, swallowing them in a mass of twisted, thorny vines.

Onni recognized those shadows, was about to expel them, when one said, "Wait! Stop! We're mages! Not spirits!"

He peered at them through the brambles. They looked human. And their unwelcome presence _felt_ human enough. But something was wrong.

"Who are you? Where are you stationed?"

"Hannu. And this is Ville. We're from-" Quick glances. "Hokanniemi."

They shouldn't enter without permission. He told them as much. But he let them go, in the end.

* * *

Hokanniemi. The name sounded familiar.

Onni looked at a map and felt the blood drain from his face. Then he turned to the records.

He found what he sought in a file so old it was falling apart.

A small group had held out for three years on an island in the lake system until, finally, they were rescued and relocated. Their survival, like others, was by chance.

With the report was a photograph, faded but visible: the survivors. In the furthest corner were two familiar faces. Beneath were names, two just barely legible. 

_...uikka. Hannu Viitanen. Ville Viitanen. Pa..._

* * *

They stepped into his dream again, but he had expected it. He waited for them, and when they slipped through the barrier, he caught them.

He tried to push them out.

One flew at him; the other held back. As he hit the ground, Onni felt hands around his throat. He gasped for breath, tried to clear his mind enough to bring up his defences-

It was Ville who pulled Hannu off of him in the end, grabbing him and chiding him like a hen. Onni sat up, wheezing.

"You lied about-"

"Did not! We're not spirits. ...Well, not exactly."

* * *

" _ONNI!_ "

The name echoed. In his dream, Onni whirled around, startled.

By now, the voice was familiar. Standing on the outside looking in was someone he recognized. The Swan's mage.

"Hey." Hannu tapped the barrier, raising an eyebrow. "Let me in. We should talk."

Onni squared his shoulders. "You've come in before. I can't keep you out."

"You're getting better at trying." Hannu paused. "Ville says I should ask first."

"Oh?"

"Do you want this message or not?"

Onni stared at the mage who had died decades ago. Then he stepped aside, and opened the barrier, and let him in.

_End_

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by some awesome aRTD+SSSS crossover edits ([01](https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=517.msg70292#msg70292), [02](https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=517.msg70410#msg70410) as well as Sectoboss's fic [A Mage's Dream](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3840577).


End file.
